Hyundai: Luxury brands focus on "stupid" tech

Luxury car makers are too focused on hype and marketing, instead of what customers really want.

That’s the view of Hyundai N division and Genesis performance boss Albert Biermann, a 30-year veteran of BMW who led its M division before joining the South Korean firm in 2015.

Speaking at the launch of Hyundai’s new Genesis G70 luxury car in Korea last week, Biermann said brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz spend too much time and money on technology that doesn’t give value to customers.

“It’s all marketing, first of all,” Biermann said. “How many people really buy it later on? Much of this exists for media, to give a hype, to show the technology level. But how many people really buy it later on?

“If the tech will fail, you’re just adding the burden to the buyer, right?”

Biermann explained the Korean brand has focused on simple technology for its Genesis models in order to create long-term reliable vehicles. He says Hyundai chairman, Chung Mong-koo, wants all Hyundai and Genesis models to be “like new” after 10 years on the road.

To achieve that, all Hyundai, Genesis and Kia models are tested to tougher standards that European cars, according to Biermann.

“Our testing is much more intense,” he said. “We have 30,000km test driving in [Hyundai’s research and development headquarters] Namyang, with all the bad cobblestones and potholes you cannot imagine. We run our cars there for 30,000km, and then on top of that we do 10,000km at the Nurburgring.

"I don’t think anyone else is doing that anymore – maybe Porsche or Ferrari, but all the other guys they’ve stepped down from 10,000km to 8000km or 5000km. And some, they do nothing anymore.”

Biermann believes the German brands are too focused on the latest technology that presents well to the media and in marketing but ultimately adds little to the customer experience. He used the example of the Genesis G90, a upper large luxury car from the brand that competes with the likes of the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the US market.

“If I want to sell a G90 to a US customer, there are other OEMs that show their flagship car on the racetrack,” he explained. “The car in the luxury car segment, they show all the racetrack talent, but which 2.2-tonne luxury segment car will ever see the racetrack?

“We don’t do this kind of stuff. We work for the customer first of all, and not so much for the media. Of course we do some stuff for the media, but first of all we do that stuff for the customer, that we think has reasonable value for the money.

“In our G90 you will not find any air suspension, or active roll-bars, or active whatever. A camera sensing the road, and this stuff. It’s stupid. We have a solid Hyundai steel platform, tonnes of high-strength steel – okay, it’s a little bit heavier than the other cars – and we have adjustable shock absorbers, and that’s it.

“We still outpace the S-Class in the double lane-change in the Consumer Reports. We almost beat the BMW, without all the fancy stuff.”